TheMonster Hunterseries is advancing on several fronts at the moment.Monster Hunter Nowis still getting major updates and becoming the best microMonster Hunterexperience it can be. In February 2025,Monster Hunter Wildswill launch as the next big consoleMHentry. And at some point in the future,Monster Hunter Outlanderswill joinMH Nowas a more in-depth mobile spin-off. It’s a lot to keep track of, especially withWildsso close andMonster Hunter Outlandersstill shrouded in mystery, but it’s a great time to be a fan of Capcom’s hunting franchise.
From the couple of trailers that have been released,Monster Hunter Outlandersdoes seem to be closer toMonster Hunter Wildsin scope than any otherMHtitle, especially since it may beat the latter to the punch in one major way. Not only isMH Outlandersincorporate survival elements, it’s also the apparent debut of the first trulyunbroken open-worldMonster Huntermap, with even the thin natural hallways and numbered areas ofWildsgiving way to an unbroken play space. Although that’s big on its own, it also meansOutlandersis finally adopting one mechanic thatMonster Hunterhas long been shying away from.
Monster Hunter Gliding Has Always Been Limited Somehow
Aerial mobility has been an increasing focus inMonster Huntertitles since the vertically-mindedMonster Hunter 4, though it hasn’t always progressed in leaps and bounds.Monster Hunter Generationsfollowed upMH4’s beginner-friendly pole-vaulting Insect Glaive weaponwith a jump-enabling Aerial hunting style, andMonster Hunter Worldintroduced the Glider Mantle to keep the play style around. These just made mounting monsters easier instead of aiding in navigating the environment, but that changed with the addition of Wirebugs inMonster Hunter Rise. Players could now basically fly across hunting maps, which was cool, but also outside the scopeMonster Hunterusually aimed for.
Monster Hunter Wildsseems to have gotten back on track with its new Seikret mount, which helps hunters with traversal in various ways. One of those is the ability to glide, which is nice but seemingly irrelevant in what players have explored ofWilds' Windswept Plains ecosystem so far. More gliding opportunities will likely present themselves inMonster Hunter Wilds’ full release, but at the current end of these airborne features, it feels likeMonster Hunteris just beating around the bush. IfMHwants convenient aerial traversal, it only needs one simple addition, andMonster Hunter Outlandersproves it.
Monster Hunter Outlanders Gets Its Gliding Right
While navigatingMonster Hunter Outlanders’ open world, players have access to a paraglider straight out ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildorGenshin Impact. Synergizing with high ledges and strong updrafts, these gliders allow hunters to quickly and easily make their way across vast stretches of land while searching for supplies and monsters to fight. Given howMonster Hunter Outlandershas expanded into the survival genre, players may be able to craft even more support for this familiar tool, but the fact of the matter is thatOutlanderscut straight to the heart of the gliding mechanic before mainlineMHever did.
Other Monster Hunter Entries Can Have Gliding Like Outlanders
Fortunately, that also means futureMonster Huntergames have a template to build on if they want to do the same. No longer doesMonster Hunterneed traversal mountsor anything as complicated as Wirebugs, just as long as it designs environments around having a glider in the first place.Monster Hunter Wilds’ Seikret is approaching this level of convenience, but its gliding still seems obscured enough that it will take a futureMHentry to go all the way. No matter what elseMonster Hunter Outlandersdoes, it will at least give developers and players a glimpse at aMonster Huntertitle with a straightforward glider.
